Healthy basketball, starting from eating the old Lakers F4

However, by G3, there seemed to be some changes in this round of finals.

During the stalemate phase of the third quarter, Duane accidentally stepped on Horford's instep when he landed while protecting the defensive rebound.

In the past, Duane paid a lot of attention to protecting his ankle, but this time it was not from his opponent.

Horford's original intention was just to help Durant to gain position, but Durant was not paying attention when he landed and got into trouble.

The Bulls' morale was also greatly affected by Duane's accidental injury.

Plus, the penalty for playing away was already outrageous.

The Bulls suffered this double-whammy blow and finally failed to hold on in the fourth quarter.

Even though Curry has learned how to be the leader of the team, he was unable to control his emotions, which ultimately affected his touch and caused him to perform poorly.

As a result, the Bulls lost to the Rockets by 3 points in Game 17 of the Finals.

This is an extremely rare big defeat for the Bulls in recent years, apart from the tacit cooperation.

Fortunately, Dunn's injury resistance attribute has already been maxed out.

Even though it has declined with age, it is still above 85 points.

After Duan returned to the locker room with the injury, he was quickly treated with ice.

The next day, although my ankle felt a little uncomfortable, there was no swelling and the situation did not seem serious.

The next afternoon, the Bulls players reviewed the loss of Game 3 in the hotel. In order to appease his teammates and improve the team's performance, Durant took the initiative to attend.

Horford was still feeling somewhat remorseful at first, but with Duane's persuasion, he slowly calmed down.

“Guys, cheer up, this is the finals, you are not rookies participating in the finals for the first time!

You know, a lot of things happen on the way to winning a championship.

We may have a tough game, but we will win in the end.”

Game 4 of the finals is about to begin, and Duane, dressed in a suit and tie, is cheering on his teammates on the bench.

"Look, I have rings on every finger of my hands.

But this one is different.

It was my first NBA championship ring in my career and the only one I won not playing for the Chicago Bulls.

I hope to be able to keep it and wear another championship ring on this finger before my career is over.

Well, having said so much, I just want to seek your help.

I led you to win the championship before, now it's your turn!"

Duane showed off the 10 championship rings he won in his career in front of his teammates, which made Curry jealous.

But then, Curry became more motivated.

Apart from Durant, Curry is the player with the most championship rings in active service, with five.

If Curry wins this year's championship, he will be on par with Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in terms of the number of championship rings.

Although in terms of seniority, a regular season MVP, two FMVPs, and two championship titles are not that valuable, they can still be compared with other top ten players in history.

Not to mention, Curry has only been in the NBA for nine years.

Curry's peak period can last at least three or four years, and he can try to compete for the seventh or eighth championship ring.

Then, like Duane, he will pass on the torch of the league's ruler, hoping that the new king of the team can lead him to win one or two more championship rings.

At that time, Curry will also have the opportunity to be like Durant, with a pair of hands and ten fingers wearing championship rings from the same team.

Of course, to realize these unrealistic aspirations, we still need to take the most basic step now - win this year's finals and win the sixth championship ring!
Don't underestimate the heart of a champion!
Star players with faith often perform differently in crucial games.

Before the game started, seeing Duane wearing a suit on the bench, Harden and Butler had a great psychological advantage and felt that the game was a sure win.

In their opinion, Curry is indeed tough, but the Bulls without Durant are no longer a completely invincible team.

Without Duane controlling the tempo of the game, constantly looking for opportunities to pass the ball to teammates who can easily score, and then helping other Bulls teammates find loopholes, the Bulls' overall strength will drop a level.

Facing the Bulls of this level, Harden and Butler are confident that they can lead the team to defeat them.

However, after the game started, Harden and Butler realized that Curry, whom they met tonight, was a level stronger than the ones in the previous three finals.

Although he failed to fill the vacancy left by Durant, he relied on his superb firepower and led the team in Curry's unique way.

With his accurate three-pointers and clever breakthroughs, he drove the entire Bulls team forward, allowing other teammates to be more competent in their own roles and jobs, and thus play even better.

G4上半场，库里16投10中，三分7投4中，罚球2投2中，高效砍下了26分，此外还有4篮板2助攻2抢断。

The two steals alone are enough to show that Curry is not a defensive loophole that can be easily singled out and abused on the defensive end.

Of course, because of Curry's physical fitness and his extraordinary scoring ability, Curry is indeed easy to be targeted by his opponents.

But the fundamental reason is not that Curry's poor defense attracted the opponent's offense, but that the opponent wanted to affect Curry's offensive performance.

Therefore, a large amount of offense was used to consume Curry's physical strength, forcing Curry's shooting stability to drop significantly.

But tonight, the Rockets used this method, but it didn't achieve much effect.

Curry's scoring efficiency declined in the third quarter, but he still scored in double digits in the quarter, scoring 11 points, helping the Bulls stabilize the situation and continue to maintain their scoring lead.

In the fourth quarter, the Bulls' biggest test came. Jokic committed two consecutive fouls at the beginning of the fourth quarter, accumulating 5 fouls at once, and had to leave the court early to rest.

The Bulls lack Jokic's inside scoring, and relying solely on Horford, as well as substitutes Portis and Gordon, is definitely not enough.

However, what the Rockets did not expect was that Tyronn Lue had an idea and proposed sending veteran Jonas Jerebko.

In the middle of the season, the Bulls signed a number of veterans, Jonas Jerebko was one of them.

It’s just that the performances of the two rookies Gordon and Portis have been very stable, so Jonas Jerebko doesn’t have many opportunities to play.

In some ways, Jonas Jerebko is like a lucky man. He joined the Bulls just in time for the Bulls' record to take off.

Then Jonas Jerebko can sit back and relax, wait for the new season to start, and get a ring at the United Center.

Coming on the court as a surprise player tonight, Jonas Jerebko showed with his actions that he is not a mascot.

In just 2 minutes after coming on the court, Jonas Jerebko scored 2 points in a row with 2 of 4 shots, one of which was a mid-range shot and the other was a tip-in that turned into a 2-pointer from an offensive rebound.

A tip-in at a critical moment is more meaningful than a shot!

The shot was simply a crude effort by one person that killed the game!

Tipping in the ball helps teammates make up for their shooting deficiencies, injects new strength into them, and gives them a chance to save the game and fight again.

The latter not only helped the team himself, but also helped his teammates become more confident and stronger.

The veterans of the Bulls have all started to save Soldier Curry. As the leader of the team, Curry naturally cannot remain indifferent.

It’s three quarters past noon, the auspicious time has arrived!
Curry made a three-pointer worth a thousand gold coins, extending the lead to 6 points.

The Bulls led the Rockets by at least two rounds, but the game time was ticking away towards the end of the game at 00:00.

Perhaps because of the big score difference, Harden got anxious and did not give the ball to Butler who kept falling into the penalty area, but instead committed a foul outside the three-point line.

In the end, Murray didn't fall for it, Harden missed all three shots, and the rebound was saved by Horford.

The Bulls took the opportunity to convert the ball, and the score difference widened further to 8 points.

In the blink of an eye, the game time was reset to zero. Even though the Rockets were still shooting free throws in the final moments, the Bulls still won the Game 4 victory with a 4-point advantage.

With three wins in hand, you are half a step away from becoming the champion.

Even without Duane, the Bulls are still on their way to a championship trophy.

After Game 4, there is no suspense in this year's finals.

The morale of the two Heat stars has been largely lost!
By Game 5, Duane's injury had almost healed, so he chose to return and still started.

However, due to injury management, Duane's playing time was controlled and he left the court after playing for more than 5 minutes in the first quarter.

With 2 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, Duane's performance was mediocre, but the other five Bulls starters played well.

Before Duane left the game, the Bulls had established a 6-point lead.

When Duane returned to the court in the second quarter, the Bulls were 2 points behind the Rockets.

Fortunately, the problem is not serious. Duan still relies on his rich game experience and outstanding passing to help his teammates score better.

I have to say that Duane is very experienced. He plays in the transition period and has a good effect of avoiding peak travel times.

By the time Duane left the court after more than four minutes of the second quarter, the Bulls had established an 4-point lead.

After a while, Duane's plus-minus value has reached 16.

In the third quarter, Duane still played the role of fire captain, leading other teammates to turn defeat into victory and boost morale.

It was not until the beginning of the fourth quarter that veteran Korver suddenly exploded and made two consecutive three-pointers. Then Curry finally played to his full level and fired three shots, all of which were head-shots. He scored 9 points in a row and defeated the Rockets in one fell swoop.

And Duane happened to be on the court as well, and took advantage of this wave of plus-minus values.

By the end of the game, the Bulls won by only 106 points, 98 to 8, but Duane had a plus-minus value of +42.

However, no matter how good the plus and minus data looks, it is not as realistic as the basic data.

Durant's performance of 11 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists did not earn him a FMVP vote.

This year has been a year in which Curry has thoroughly proved himself, winning both the regular season MVP and Finals MVP, officially topping the league's list.

As for this FMVP, which was no surprise, the judges did not act foolishly and finally recognized Curry with a unanimous vote.

By the way, on the championship awards stage, just like last year, Curry won the FMVP trophy and Durant won the championship trophy.

"The eleventh championship is not easy!"

Although Du En was getting worse and worse, he felt a ripple in his heart for the achievement he had just made, and couldn't help but feel secretly happy.

"Is it possible that the championship won by chance is more attractive?"

For this year's championship, Duane doesn't know whether he is the second or third, but the feeling it brings to Duane is indeed different.

Perhaps it was because he tied the record of Russell from The Lord of the Rings and fulfilled a wish.

Or maybe it was because he helped the Bulls win their 16th championship trophy in team history, tying the Celtics, and truly becoming qualified to target the Lakers.

Anyway, the feeling of winning is still wonderful... (End of this chapter)